Jan De Nul Group has ordered a floating installation crane vessel, Les Alizés, from the CMHI Haimen shipyard in China.
The order comes just six months after the investment in the offshore installation vessel Voltaire.
Together with the Voltaire, the new vessel will be capable of building the newest generation offshore wind farms. Les Alizés, that will be ready in 2022, is equipped with a crane having a lifting capacity of 5,000 tons.
Les Alizés will mainly be used for the construction of offshore wind farms, but it will also be suitable for decommissioning of offshore oil and gas platforms.
Les Alizés will be able to load out, transport and install multiple units of the largest and heaviest wind turbine foundations. In addition, as a crane vessel that floats, it will be able to install heavier and larger foundations into deeper waters and in more challenging seabed conditions.
Philippe Hutse, Offshore director at Jan De Nul Group, said: “We continue to invest in the future of offshore renewable energy. By ordering Les Alizés, from 2022 we will have not one, but two, offshore installation vessels that will be able to install the newest generation of offshore wind farms. This is how we offer our customers the most efficient installation method. Similar to the Voltaire, we have financed this investment by means of a green loan thanks to the green emissions reduction technology on board the vessel. During the design phase, as is the case for all our new vessels, we studied very carefully the environmental impact and the solutions to minimize that impact.”
Peter De Pooter, manager Offshore Renewables at Jan De Nul Group: “The order of the Voltaire was a first step in our strategy to install the newest generation of offshore wind turbines. With Les Alizés we want to further strengthen our vision and our belief in the future of offshore wind energy. We want to be a major and enduring player in this sector. For that reason, we continue to invest in the further expansion of our offshore renewables department.”
The vessel will be built at a shipyard of China Merchants Industry Holdings, located in Haimen, Nantong City, China.
Les Alizés is designed for loading, transporting, lifting and installing offshore wind turbine foundations. The main features are a main crane of 5,000 tons, a deck loading capacity of 61,000 tons and a deck space of 9,300 m².
Unlike the Voltaire, Les Alizés does not have four legs to lift itself above the sea surface. It is a crane vessel for floating installation, which means that the vessel is not dependent on the water depths and the seabed conditions. Les Alizés is equipped with a high-performance DP2 system.
The vessel is named after the French word ‘alizé’, which means ‘trade wind’.